Survey Results by Location

"Zoning is not a democratic process. When you buy property, you get the bundle of rights that come with the property. And you can use that bundle of rights right up until the point where you impact your neighbor. You could build the most beautiful house-and some idiot would say, "Boy, that's a good place for a gas station." And if there wasn't zoning, they would put it there. So you have to have laws." -Township Official

"You still have to have the commercial and industrial to go with the residential, or your taxes are going to be out of sight and you're not going to get anything done." -Township Official

"To me, Portage represents blandness for what it is. It's the way our economy has developed. We have allowed it to develop that way. We needed to have places for people to live and it facilitated that." -Business Person

Citizens Speak

"There's a great deal of ignorance when it comes to issues that surround zoning and planning." -Small Town Resident

"I think properly-managed growth is a big thing. If we go to other towns where the city's growth is well-managed, the infrastructure was able to keep up, then it's a nice town. But you go to other towns where it was poorly-managed and grew too fast, where the infrastructure did not keep up, then you get all the associated traffic jams." -Developer

"If we don't make a plan for at least residential growth, then, I think our fate is sealed. It's just gonna deteriorate more. And I don't wanna cover up good farmland, either. But if we want the town to survive, if we wanna keep the school system and basic services, we're gonna have to cover up some land. And there's got to be a plan for it." -Small Town Resident

"Sometimes we go a little bit to far in this zoning and ordinances and we restrict ourselves so much that now I can't do what I want to do because my neighbor has stopped me from doing anything.I'm saying 'Let's don't over-govern ourselves.'" -Township Official

"It's not an option to stop building; it would be economic death. It would be a practical impossibility, if we have 1.3 million households that form each year in this nation that need housing." -Developer